Salmon Scam

Farmed Fish Mislabeled as Wild-Caught

The nonprofit Oceana reveals that salmon, America’s favorite fish, is often mislabeled in restaurants and grocery stores. They collected 82 salmon samples from restaurants and grocery stores between December 2013 and March 2014 and found that 43 percent were mislabeled. DNA testing confirmed that the majority of the mislabeling (69 percent) consisted of farmed Atlantic salmon being sold as a wild-caught product.

“Americans might love salmon, but as our study reveals, they may be falling victim to a bait-and-switch,” says Beth Lowell, a senior campaign director with Oceana. “Not only are consumers getting ripped off, but responsible U.S. fishermen are being cheated when fraudulent products lower the price for their hard-won catch.”

Kimberly Warner, Ph.D., the report’s author and a senior scientist at Oceana, observes, “While U.S. fishermen catch enough salmon to satisfy 80 percent of our domestic demand, 70 percent of that catch is then exported, instead of going directly to American grocery stores and restaurants.”